


The Quest for the Halloween Costumes

by Life_on_Vega



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 09:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8439604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Life_on_Vega/pseuds/Life_on_Vega
Summary: Soleil and Ophelia go on a quest to find some costumes for a Halloween party! Unfortunately, this turns out to be more troublesome than they expected...
Written for garbagebird for the Fire Emblem Fates Trick or Treat Exchange.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [garbagebird](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=garbagebird).



> This fic is also on my Tumblr: http://lifeonvega.tumblr.com/post/152546260929/the-quest-for-the-halloween-costumes

“But what do you have against Ferdinand and Miranda?” asked Ophelia, looking down at Soleil’s head on her lap. “Do you have an iron heart, that you are so unmoved by the lovers from one of Shakespeare’s last and greatest plays?”

“Look, I know ‘The Tempest’ is your favorite play, but nobody is going to recognize us,” Soleil replied.

“Our friends in the theater and English departments would like it,” Ophelia pouted.

“And how many theater and English majors are going to be at Shiro’s party? Let’s face it, we’ve gotta wear something that we won’t need to explain to every person there.”

“…Rosalind and Orlando?”

“Are those more Shakespeare characters? Ophelia…”

“Oberon and Titania?”

“Ophelia.”

“Romeo and Juliet?”

“Those two _died!_ ” exclaimed Soleil, sitting up.

“My dearest Soleil, you haven’t suggested any ideas yet, so you can’t complain,” said Ophelia, folding her arms.

“Well, um…” Soleil scratched her head as she thought through all of Ophelia’s ideas. Like it or not, most people wouldn’t get Shakespeare references on sight. It had to be something more obvious, but also cool, such as… such as…

“Okay… hear me out on this,” said Soleil. “What if we were a sorceress and a lady knight? People would still get it, and you’d still get to wear a really cute Renaissance costume.”

Ophelia hummed for a moment, then smiled.

“Why – yes, I think that would work. And what, pray tell, would you be? Would you protect your dear sorceress with your swordplay?”

“I was – actually just going to ask about who you wanted to be, but, uh, yeah, I can do that!” replied Soleil, who was suddenly blushing. “Actually, I could borrow a fake sword from the crew at the theater!”

“Then it’s settled! A knight and sorceress we shall be!” said Ophelia. “But… where would we find costumes worthy of a lady knight and her beloved magic-maker?” She paused, then added, “You know, ones that won’t require us to spend all our money.”

“Don’t worry!” Soleil replied, standing from the couch. She tossed her backpack over one shoulder as Ophelia followed her to the front door. “We’ll just ask Forrest to do it! He loves making clothes, and I’m sure he’ll love it even more when we pay him!”

* * *

 

“Sorry, ladies, but I just can’t,” said Forrest. He and the two girls were sitting in one of the local coffee shops by the campus, crowded around a table that could comfortably fit only one person. Ophelia’s and Soleil’s eyes had gone wide.

“Wh- Why not?” asked Soleil.

“I’m already working on an outfit for Siegbert, plus my own, and then Kana asked for my help, and I can never tell her no…” Forrest shook his head and took a sip of coffee. “I’m really flattered that you want to pay, but I just don’t have the time on top of my classes. If I could help you two, I would. For what it’s worth, though, you two would be the cutest knight and sorceress.”

“Well… if you can’t help us, then, surely you must know a good place to purchase costumes?” Ophelia asked, leaning forward in her seat.

“I actually don’t, I’ve made my costumes by hand for years now. But there are lots of shops around, so one of them has to have something that would work, right?”

Soleil sighed. “I hope so – but your stuff is _way_ better.”

“Aw, I’m flattered! But don’t look so down. Really, there are tons of stores that pop up this time of year. I’m sure you’ll find something!” Forrest nodded and took another sip of coffee.

“But, just out of curiosity… What’s Siegbert going as? I honestly thought he wouldn’t celebrate Halloween because he’s buried in his books all the time,” asked Soleil.

“He’s going as some character from a show called Voltron – Keith, I think?” Forrest shrugged. “Shiro made him sit down and watch all of it because one of the characters has his name, and he’s making Siegbert and several other friends be the Voltron team. But I would have helped Siegbert with a costume anyway. Did you know his first idea was to be a failed SAT exam?” Forrest wrinkled his nose.

“I remember listening to one of Siegbert’s laments about exams when we shared an English class…” said Ophelia, shaking her head. “I sympathized, but it was all a bit over-dramatic.”

“You’ve given your fair share of dramatic speeches, Ophelia,” Soleil remarked.

“Oh, hush! Books, plays, and romantic dinners are perfect occasions for waxing poetic!” Ophelia lightly swatted her girlfriend on the arm.

“Well, girls, I’ve got to be off. Those costumes won’t sew themselves.” Forrest’s chair squeaked as he stood, and he threw his messenger bag over his shoulder. “Tell me how it works out, all right?”

They said their good-byes, and Forrest exited the coffee shop, adjusting his beret as he left. Ophelia looked to her side and saw Soleil tapping at her phone, her eyes focused and her lips pursed.

“Okay,” she said, showing her the phone, “so these are all the costume shops in the area, and they’re all pretty close to the bus line. I figure we can make a circuit around all of them and see what they’ve got. What do you say?”

“I say,” intoned Ophelia, straightening her back, “let the Quest for the Halloween Costumes commence!”

* * *

 

The Quest for the Halloween Costumes, as Ophelia recounted later, would turn out to be an ill-fated misadventure.

The first shop was crowded with customers clamoring for costumes while employees attempted to appease them. After wandering around the shop for ten minutes, failing to find any decent-looking costumes or to attract any attention from the employees, Soleil and Ophelia left.

“Was _everybody_ trying to shop in there?” gasped Soleil as they stepped out.

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here,” Ophelia quoted, “because they all chose today to get Halloween costumes!”

The second shop was a dead, dingy affair, with a single employee looking at his phone in supreme boredom as the couple entered. Soleil and Ophelia wandered around and whispered, as there was no music to cover their conversation. Soleil jerked her head toward the door in a silent plea to leave, and Ophelia hastily nodded.

The third shop seemed to have a reasonable number of customers, and the place was clean enough. But when the two began to peruse the wares, they soon found that men’s section was nothing but tacky or tasteless costumes, while the women’s section was an array of skimpy outfits.

“If this were played upon a stage now,” said Ophelia, scornfully, “I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.” She held up a costume labeled, ‘Sexy Corn on the Cob.’

They promptly left the store and headed to a fourth. This store wasn’t crowded, and the costumes weren’t vulgar, but they were clearly made from cheap, sub-par material.

“Ophelia…” Soleil began. She ran a hand through her hair. “Look. We’ve been wandering around for hours. I don’t think we really have any other days before the party to search for costumes. And my feet hurt, and I’m pretty sure we’re both getting hungry. So… could we, maybe, settle on something else? I saw the faces you made at those knight, wizard, and princess costumes…”

Ophelia fixed her gaze on Soleil for a moment, and then sighed.

“Yes, I do believe a compromise is in order.”

After fifteen more minutes of searching and negotiation, the two made their purchases and left the store.

* * *

 

“Well, look at it this way, Ophelia,” said Soleil, “at least you won’t have to deal with a bunch of jokes about how your name means _sun_ in French.”

Soleil spun around once to show off her gold pants and shirt, careful to avoid hitting the coffee table in their apartment. Attached to the cheap shirt with Velcro was a cardboard sun. She had also managed to borrow a pair of gold shoes from a friend in the theater department.

“I suppose…” Ophelia replied. Her outfit was exactly the same, except for being in silver and having a crescent moon stuck to her shirt. “Well… shall we be off?”

“Wait, hold on, there’s – there’s something I wanna do first,” said Soleil.

She kneeled in front of Ophelia and took a quick, steadying breath. Ophelia frowned in confusion as Soleil met her gaze.

_“Admired Ophelia!”_  Soleil began. “Er – Miranda. Ophelia. You’ll understand in a minute.  
 _“Indeed the top of admiration! Worth_  
 _What's dearest to the world! Full many a lady_  
 _I have eyed with best regard and many a time_  
 _The harmony of their tongues hath into bondage_  
 _Brought my too-diligent ear: for several virtues_  
 _Have I liked several women; never any_  
 _With so fun soul, but some defect in her_  
 _Did quarrel with the noblest grace she owed_  
 _And put it to the foil…”_ Soleil paused a moment, grinning widely. Ophelia covered her face with her hands, her smile too large to hide.

_“But you, O you,_   
_So perfect and so peerless, are created_   
_Of every creature's best!”_

Soleil rose, but before she could speak, Ophelia kissed her on her left cheek, then her right cheek, and then on her lips.

“You memorized ‘The Tempest?’” exclaimed Ophelia. “I thought you said the plays were too confusing!”

“Uh, well, I – I remembered you saying one time that you really liked that play, and uh, I knew you wanted to go as Shakespeare characters, and you didn’t get to, so, um, I thought this might be the next best thing…?” Soleil stammered, blushing.

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” quoted Ophelia, tracing her girlfriend’s face with her hands. “It is the east, and Soleil truly is the sun!”

“Ophelia…!” Soleil managed to blush to even harder and tried to hide her face with her hands.

“Of course, the next part of that soliloquy is about how the moon is sickly and envious, so I’ll skip those lines,” mused Ophelia, brushing her hair back.

“What?” said Soleil, looking up.

“Never mind that; Romeo has no appreciation for the moon. Now, my shining Soleil,” said Ophelia, offering her arm, “shall we go and make merry on this All Hallows Eve?”

“Yeah!” Soleil looped her arm around Ophelia’s. “Let’s go!”

As they shut off the lights and walked out the door, Soleil pecked a kiss on Ophelia’s cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> When the prompt called for something dorky, somehow being a Shakespeare fan was the first thing I came up with… It was probably because of Ophelia’s name and her fancy speech.  
> It probably would have made more sense for Ophelia’s favorite play to be “Hamlet” (since that’s where her name is from), but Ophelia dies in that play, and besides, “The Tempest” has a sorcerer in it. And once I re-read Ferdinand’s part, I knew I had to use it with Soleil.  
> Ophelia’s other costume suggestions at the beginning were references to “As You Like It” (Rosalind and Orlando), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Oberon and Titania), and of course, “Romeo and Juliet.” Ophelia also references that play in the last section, too.  
> “Hell is empty and all the devils are here!” is a quote from “The Tempest.”  
> “If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction,” is a quote from “Twelfth Night.”  
> Yes, the Sexy Corn on the Cob costume does exist.


End file.
